


Moonlight Dates on Car Hood Tops

by meloingly



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Established Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Soft Carlos Reyes, Soft Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:22:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29408322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meloingly/pseuds/meloingly
Summary: TK jumps off the truck, leaning onto the side of the truck and taking a deep breath.The station is quiet for this time of night, but after the shift they've had, he appreciates the serenity and peace that surrounds them. Even the noise of the crew as they disembark behind him doesn't dampen the stillness. He feels the beginning of tiredness seeping at the edges of his consciousness, and all he wants is to hit the hay.TK looks at the sky again, moving his hand until he holds Carlos'. As he looks at the sky, he realises that if he were to compare the man next to him and the Earth's natural state, he will always end with the same conclusion.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 6
Kudos: 124
Collections: Tarlos Valentine 2021





	Moonlight Dates on Car Hood Tops

**Author's Note:**

> Tarlos Corazonados Weekend Day 2! "What Do You Want For Breakfast?" "It's 10 PM" "Oh" + Late Night Hangouts + Favourite Dates.
> 
> This is another last-minute finished fic!
> 
> The wonderful [Lire-Casander](https://lire-casander.tumblr.com/) has come to the rescue as usual! Holding my fragile hand through every turn and twist.
> 
> Beware, there are slight off-hand mentions of racism and overdose. Nothing significant, but a retelling.

TK jumps off the truck, leaning onto the side of the truck and taking a deep breath.

The station is quiet for this time of night, but after the shift they've had, he appreciates the serenity and peace that surrounds them. Even the noise of the crew as they disembark behind him doesn't dampen the stillness. He feels the beginning of tiredness seeping at the edges of his consciousness, and all he wants is to hit the hay.

They're on the fifteenth hour of a twenty-four-hour shift, and it's been non-stop. They've all been manageable calls - no major challenges, no deaths - but they've left no emotional scar intact, praying at all of their sore spots.

There's an odd understanding plaguing the station, he notices as makes his way to the back. Everyone is going to their own corner, trying to ease the ache they feel, using whatever mechanism they have at hand.

TK makes his way to the showers, stopping by the lockers to pull out his phone. A single notification shines on the screen: a text from Carlos. They were texting right before the bell went out. The last thing TK sent him was just before this most recent call, informing him that they've been dispatched. Carlos had responded with a simple _Be safe. Call me when you're back._

He glances at the clock, 7:52 PM staring at him. He knows Carlos is still on shift, but he still calls, hoping he's at the precinct or on patrol and can spare a few minutes. He just needs to hear his voice. Convince himself that there's still good in the world, even if the shifts they've been on are proving everything but.

Except that the phone rings and rings, no reply coming through. He tries again, and when the situation repeats itself, he lays it down inside the locker. 

The realisation that Carlos is busy sends a wave of sadness through him. He knows he needs a shower, food and sleep, but his plan throughout the ride back was to call Carlos first and foremost. And now that he's found that he can't do that, he doesn't feel like doing anything else. 

He grabs his phone again, closing the locker and heading to the bunk room, deciding he'd rather sleep the mellowness away. He sets his alarm, wraps himself in his blanket, and he's immediately out.

* * *

The ring of his alarm wakes him up slowly, starting to tickle at the edges of his awareness and gradually sending him into consciousness.

He stretches, grabbing his phone to silence his alarm and sitting up in bed. It's 9:52 PM now. 

His first thought is realising how even though he's not physically tired anymore, he's still down, even after a two-hour nap. The second is that Carlos' shift is over.

Swinging his legs off the bed, he gets up and makes his way to the locker room - he's in dire need of a shower. He knows Carlos' shift is over, and that he's already home right now. He probably already ate and is washing the dishes right now. He makes a quick decision to call him right now rather than after his shower. The way the night has been going he wouldn't be surprised if there's another call halfway through.

Planting himself on a bench, he places his personal belongings next to him, he presses the "dial" button, waiting as three rings spring into the silence around him. He's about to hang up, sure that Carlos' phone is far from hand, when the voice he loves more than anything appears on the other side of the line.

There's a faint and far away "hello?" mixed with a sound he can only describe as shaky. TK strains for a moment, trying to focus on anything that can elude him to what's happening on the other side of the line. He can tell that Carlos is moving, the phone is somewhere either far away from him or stuck somewhere. But other than that, he comes up empty. 

He's seconds away from convincing himself that it's a fault of network connection, to hang up and call again, when Carlos' much clearer voice comes through.

"Hello! Hi, baby, hi."

TK is immediately relieved, finally aware of what exactly is going on; Carlos was asleep. Hell, he was probably wrapped up in his blanket, warm and comfortable.

A hot flame of guilt rushes through him. The knowledge that Carlos was sleeping off his own taxing shift and that his rest was interrupted by TK burns his soul, and shame starts to settle in.

He barely gets the chance to stew in his emotions, readying apologies, when he notices that Carlos is talking. He shakes his head, tuning back to the one-sided conversation.

"-rry, I was just taking a nap! Is your shift over? _What do you want for breakfast?_ "

He knows what Carlos is doing. It's a thing they've started doing in the past few months since they moved in together. Whenever one of them is on a twenty-four-hour shift, the other party calls to ensure that they're safe, and when the shift is over, whoever is at home prepares the next meal for who's been working.

Still, TK has been so lost in his own mind and thoughts that the question seems so bizarre. He blinks a couple of times, trying to clear the startle that caused him to forget all he was supposed to say. 

_"It's 10 PM,"_ he deadpans instead.

 _"Oh,"_ Carlos replies after a moment of silence. It stretches for a moment too long before a light-hearted laugh comes through the phone.

It's a breeze of fresh air, TK thinks. It's bright, shining despite TK's own current darkness, and light, lifting a weight off his chest that he didn't even realise was there. 

"Sorry, I think I thought my nap turned into a full night of sleep," Carlos explains, voice deep and happy. "How are you?"

TK sighs before he can stop it, the exhaustion of the day catching up. It alerts the man on the other side though; TK can hear him rustle, and what he would guess to be feet hit the ground.

"What's wrong, baby? Are you hurt?"

"No, no!" TK hurries to assure him; worrying Carlos is the last thing he wants to do. "I'm not hurt."

"So… what's going on then?" Carlos asks when TK doesn't elaborate.

He looks at the ceiling, taking a deep breath to calm himself down and school his emotions. After a slow exhale, he starts talking. 

He tells Carlos about the never-ending calls. How each one of them was physically taxing, but more so mentally and emotionally. He talks about how they had a call involving a fourteen-year-old boy who decided pills were the best way of coping. He recalls the older man who had a heart attack around his middle-aged kids, how even in their forties they were terrified of losing him. He shares how they were assigned to a fire caused by a group of racists, screaming slurs at Paul, Marjan and Mateo even as they risked their lives to save them. He tells the story of a man so heartbroken about the recent loss of his entire found family, that he drank his weight at a bar and then got into his car.

Carlos provides a continuous stream of support with every line that falls from TK's lips. Exclaiming his pain when necessary and his anger when needed. Even his "hmm's" and "aha's" soothe a part of TK that had been calm for so long. 

By the end he retells the last call, he could swear he feels lighter. He sighs as he finishes, digging his elbow into his thigh and dropping his head in his hand.

"I'm so sorry, baby," Carlos says when TK is done. "Your day has been rough."

TK chuckles. It's a dry and humourless laugh, but at least he's reactive again, having seemingly moved on from his near-dissociated state.

"Yeah. It doesn't help that we haven't gotten to eat either. I'm so hung-"

"Wait," Carlos interrupts, and TK feels the immediate urge to smack himself on the forehead. _Of course_ Carlos would get hung up on that. "You haven't eaten at all?"

"I-I have!" He manages to stutter in reply. "It wasn't much, but we have."

He can imagine Carlos' face almost perfectly; his slight frown, his shut eyes, his flared nose, his pursed lips, the entire shake of his head. 

It leads TK to a giggle, shaking his own head in amusement. "I'm sorry, I'm going to eat right after I shower."

"Okay, okay, I believe you. Go shower," Carlos hums. "Call me while you eat?"

TK hums his own reply, ending the call after they exchange their "I love you". He hangs up then, staring at the phone for a few seconds before he shakes himself up, throwing the device back into the locker and grabbing his toiletries.

The shower is quick and efficient. After he gets his five minutes of standing under the hot stream, he cleans his hair, foregoing the conditioner lest he needs to shower again after another call. He grabs his loffa, lathering it up with shower gel and scrubbing the soot and grime off his skin, repeating the process until he's sure he no longer smells, either of smoke or sweat. He turns off the water, grabs his towel and he's finally out of the shower.

He's barely three steps into dressing - his undergarments and pants the only thing on him - when the bell rings. He loudly groans, dropping his head back in frustration as he speeds up. Once he's got his uniform on, he grabs his phone with him, before running towards the turnouts and truck.

The last thing he manages to do is text Carlos "out on call" before he forces himself into firefighter mode, zoning all of his concentration on the crew next to him and his dad's voice relaying the scene through the headphones.

* * *

They're pulling back into the station a little over two hours later, the time well over midnight this time around. TK pushes out of the truck, moving a few steps away before he stretches his arms high over his head. He removes his turnouts and moves towards the locker room, aiming to grab his phone charger. 

He's much less tired this time - the two-hour-long nap having worked wonders. Instead, the hunger takes precedence over his every emotion. He's racking through his mind for a quick recipe he could make, the easier and more nutritious the better, when he notices the blue gleam of a car parked outside the doors. 

One _very_ familiar blue gleam of a car. 

He freezes mid-step, bending forward to get a better view of the vehicle. He manages to catch the plate number of the car, and sure enough, that _Carlos'_ car; the blue Camaro shining under the moonlight.

"What?" he mutters to him himself, frowning even as he starts to move towards the doors. 

He's halfway through the parking space inside the station when he sees Carlos come through the doors. He looks comfortable and relaxed, clad in one of his many black sweatpants and a soft oversized Henley. His hands are stuffed in his pockets, and a smile adorns his face as he stops under the threshold of the entrance door.

A giant reminder that Carlos shouldn't be here rings in TK's mind. But he's so happy to see the man that he doesn't bother to give the thought a piece of mind. Instead, he's carried by long, fast steps, moving until he's colliding against Carlos. 

His arms wrap around Carlos' waist, holding as tight as Carlos does. He takes a deep breath, the scent of sandalwood calming his racing mind down, the effect amplified by the subtle kiss he feels pressed into the side of his neck. 

"Hey," Carlos whispers when they pull back.

"Hi," he replies, hands still wound around Carlos' torso. "What're you doing here?" 

Carlos gives him a fond look without a verbal answer. Instead, he intertwines their hands, turns on a heel and pulls TK with him. He leads him outside the truck's parking lot and into the parking space, moving towards his car that's parked at the far edge. 

TK takes a moment to look up at the sky, gasping at the stars that litter the night. Their shift has been so brutal he didn't get a chance to admire the world that surrounds. But now that everything is calm, and he's safe with Carlos, he can unwind and look around him. 

He comes to an abrupt stop, Carlos' shoulder suddenly stationary in front of him. It takes him a few blinks to look up and understand what's going on. Before he has a chance to say a single word though, Carlos is already talking to him.

"Come on, hop up," he moves them around the front of the car, stopping in front of the hood. He pushes at TK's hips when all he does is look behind him then back at Carlos. "Jump up on the hood," he explains.

TK separates himself from Carlos - even though there's nothing he wants more than to hold on tighter - to lean back on the car and drag himself up. He bends a leg to boost higher, shuffling until he ends up with his legs laying the length of the hood and his back resting on the windshield. 

Carlos stands ahead of him for a moment, a soft smile on his face, before he walks next to TK and plants a kiss on his forehead.

"I need to grab stuff from inside the car," he murmurs against TK's temple, hands caressing his arms. At TK's nod, he moves away.

TK looks up to the sky again. The midnight sky is dark, a bare lighting of blue spread throughout. The stars shine and glimmer, grouped in small constellations that take residence in every corner. It's beautiful. Absolutely breathtaking if he's being honest. 

And yet, as he turns around in his spot to look into the car through the windshield, to look at Carlos - a knee on the driver's seat as he leans over the center console to dig through whatever is in the passenger's seat - TK can't help but think that he's ethereal. 

The fact that he's here, at midnight, pulling what looks like tacos from their favourite local food truck, starts to heal every sore spot in his soul. He can only imagine Carlos getting up after their phone call, splashing cold water on his face to wake up and brewing a travel mug of instant coffee, just to get into his car and start the journey of acquiring food. That's foregoing the fact that he must have been waiting here for a while.

He follows Carlos as he pulls out of the car, closing the door and rounding the edge to drop a couple of bags next to TK. He then shuffles up the car, in much the same way that TK did, until he's sitting next to him, the bags in between them.

"I love you," TK whispers, voice barely audible over the scrunch of the bags as Carlos fiddles with them. He watches as a small smile takes over Carlos' face before he looks at him from the corner of his eye, lifting an eyebrow.

*Because I brought you food?" 

TK laughs, probably the first real sound of happiness he's had since this hell of a shift started.

"I'm not denying that," he shakes his head. "But, I also just love you for _you_."

"So, you mean, you don't love me for my amazing skills in the kitchen," Carlos retaliates, not wasting a second. "Or in bed?"

TK laughs at that while Carlos hums as he removes the taco box, opening it up to reveal TK's personal favourite. He digs into the bag again, pulling out a variety of sauces and dips. It's not a simple pick-me-up, he realises. This is much more thought out than their usual "quick meal" order.

"Are we having a date?" 

"Yep," Carlos replies, popping the p, as he hands him a boba tea with the straw pierced in already. 

"But, I'm, I'm still on shift," TK relents. He doesn't know how Carlos is sure that they'll get long enough to slowly eat the way they like to. The way the day has been going, he doesn't think they will.

"Yeah, so you better start eating."

"You were asleep, when I called."

"Yeah, I was. And now I'm not."

"But-"

"TK, baby," Carlos interrupts, turning to fully face TK. "You're tired. You've had a horrible shift. You haven't eaten anything. I'm here because I love you and I care about you. Now, eat before that bell rings again."

TK can't retaliate against that, can he now? He grabs a taco, dipping into one of the many sauces laid out, and takes a bite. It's the perfect mix of spices, meat and crunch, the flavour sending an immediate moan out of him, and jump-starting his brain, reminding of how absolutely hungry he is. 

He swallows the first bite and instantly follows it with a second, and a third and then a final fourth finishing the taco at hand. It's barely in his mouth and yet he's grabbing another one, dipping it in the sauce to anticipating the next bite.

He loses track of time as he munches on the tacos, one quickly following the other, only ever interrupted by sips from the tea. He keeps going until he feels the tell-tale pressure pressing on his chest. It's only then that he slows down, recognising the fullness of his stomach. He takes a deep breath, stretching his arms over his head and laying down on the car with a dramatic thump.

A chuckle has him turning to his side. He faces Carlos, who is looking back at him, his own bite filling his cheeks. TK grabs the box, placing it on his lap as he sits up and slides across the hood, sticking his shoulder to Carlos' arm and laying his head on his shoulder. 

"Thank you," he whispers, looking up at Carlos from under his lashes. "For talking to me on the phone, for coming here, for bringing me food. I needed this, more than I realised," he elaborates when Carlos frowns at him. 

"You are the most welcome, babe." 

Carlos smiles at him again, grabbing the rest of their left-over food in the box and placing it in the bags before he moves them aside. He winds an arm around TK and then lays them both down. TK's head stays on Carlos' shoulder, while Carlos rests his own head on top of TK's. 

TK looks at the sky again, moving his hand until he holds Carlos'. As he looks at the sky, he realises that if he were to compare the man next to him and the Earth's natural state, he will always end with the same conclusion.

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2 is doooone!
> 
> What do y'all think?


End file.
